Calvin Fletcher, first prominent civic leader in Indianapolis

When he arrived in the brand new city of Indianapolis in 1821, Calvin Fletcher was nearly penniless. Yet he went on to become the first attorney in the new state capital city, a banker, a state legislator and a wealthy landowner. Fletcher, who was passionately anti-slavery, also became the first major civic leader in his adopted hometown. To top it off, Fletcher (1798-1866) wrote an astounding, nine-volume diary. Since its publication by the Indiana Historical Society, the extensive diary has become a trove for anyone seeking insights about daily life in early Indianapolis. In his diary, Fletcher described everything from the weather to events, large and small, in Indianapolis. A native of Vermont (Fletcher was just 17 when he left his family's home), the self-made early power broker became the patriarch of a family that was prominent in the city for many generations. As his wealth increased, Calvin Fletcher moved into various houses, but for a long period he lived at Wood Lawn, a farmhouse he built on his 269-acre farm in what's now the Fletcher Place Neighborhood just south of downtown Indy. Fletcher also owned vast amounts of property elsewhere in the city and state, including large tracts of farmland in Hamilton County.